I managed to finished the project. After a disastrous period of time ( bug and glitch solving, blood, sweat and tears) I think this result has the status of going public.
There are two versions available this time: A standard version and special (trance) edition.
The first one has music provided by UT community. The second one has very nice, and mostly relaxing trance music(non-vocal).
I'm recommending the Trance version for main server,unless people really don't like the music. But I am very sure they do, after many observations and given feedback during games and the recent topic on the forum.
I don't mind which version goes live, as long people it makes players happy
UT Name: Emperor_Warrior UT Since: 2001 Gender: Joined: May 21, 2012 Age: 34 Posts: 133 Location: Somewhere in California Reputation: 150 votes: 1 Status: Offline
Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 4:20 am Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Coming along nicely can't wait see what you have waiting for us
Cyberia-Mix
dU.Mapper
UT Name: Demona UT Since: 2000 Joined: Dec 12, 2010 Posts: 588 Location: irc://irc.epiknet.org/2LO Reputation: 337.5 votes: 10 Status: Offline
Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Ah that's great news! :D
2 remarks based on your current screens:
- "human" lighting could use more color. Right now it's just white, but you could bring some nice contrast between areas by choosing some places that would not be white, or use white + another color (generally light blue, deep blue, yellow, orange, brown and red),
- the sand and rock textures would look better upscaled imo.
Terraniux
UT Name: Terraniux UT Since: 1999 Joined: Jul 25, 2010 Posts: 1162
2 remarks based on your current screens:
- "human" lighting could use more color. Right now it's just white, but you could bring some nice contrast between areas by choosing some places that would not be white, or use white + another color (generally light blue, deep blue, yellow, orange, brown and red),
- the sand and rock textures would look better upscaled imo.
All right, will do.
Thanks for your input!.
Sponsor
EvilGrins
UT Name: Doppleganger UT Since: 1999 Gender: Joined: Dec 01, 2011 Age: 54 Posts: 654 Location: Palo Alto, CA Reputation: 363.3 votes: 2 Status: Offline
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
This might sound a tad hinky, but did you base the design of this map off a DM map?
I know a map that, except for your first screenshot, looks damn near identical. Which is cool, as i always thought it was better suited for MH than DM anyway.
I'll see if i can find it tonight, pretty sure I've still got it.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Nope. But I am curious to see the map. Like any other map of me, this map is also completely made from scratch. Random creativity. I was experimenting with walls and collums, and looked at the design of my Afterdark project, CM2 and CM3.
This is the result, the subtracted floor and subtracted walls made a perfect opportunity for a "Control Area" to acces the Mine Transport Area ( just as in CM-2). If the author of map you are reffering to, ever thinks I stole his design after releasing the final edition, I am more than happy to talk about this matter. But I think this will never occur. We are all adults.
I never stole anything from any map, never will. If my maps contain parts and / or are look alikes from other maps, it is with the according author(s) permissions to do so.
But thanks for saying it, always good to know that different maps have multiple similarities and authors deserve to know if their eyes catches something that could be theirs.
Terraniux
UT Name: Terraniux UT Since: 1999 Joined: Jul 25, 2010 Posts: 1162
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 2:09 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Moo!
Cyberia-Mix
dU.Mapper
UT Name: Demona UT Since: 2000 Joined: Dec 12, 2010 Posts: 588 Location: irc://irc.epiknet.org/2LO Reputation: 337.5 votes: 10 Status: Offline
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 6:27 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Nice progress here. :)
Remember you can send me early versions of your maps for the Mapping server if you want a more complete feedback. :)
Even though your map is still a work in progress, based on these new screens, I'd like to make a global suggestion. You don't really need to follow it for the map to be good, but it'd make it even better. ;P
Here we go:
I really like that you always build with a large scarle, it fits well for big teams and makes the areas look more impressive.
But!
Sometimes with your maps, and right now when I look at these new screens, it gets me thinking:
- most floor, wall and ceiling textures could be upscaled 2x,
- walls could have more depth variation (for example, the walls on 1st screen could have pilars like the 3rd or holes like the 4th screen, 4th screen itself could have pilars too),
- you could draw decorations of any shape in floors and ceilings, at the same height or not (for example, on the 2nd screen, you have many ways to draw a nice path on the floor with trimming around it, and add heavy horizontal columns on the ceiling to cut the flatness),
- the lighting is too uniform and strong for such large areas, and could be made more lively (explanations below).
In summary, it's as if those large areas were built as if they were small, without adjusting to the larger size (upscaling textures to limit repetitiveness, filling the empty space with geometry, adding more light variation).
More on the lighting so:
3rd screen is mostly fine so it's mostly about the 3 others.
Maybe you don't need all the advice here, but I'd rather say too much than not enough. :P And this might be helpful to other people too. :)
IMO, the strength of the lighting doesn't quite match the small size of the lamps and flames (i.e. the light sources).
If you want to keep this lighting, then you need more light sources all around to produce this uniform effect. But I would discourage doing so, because it's not really exciting to look at.
IMO strong uniform lighting only looks good for daylight, outdoors. ;)
So instead, I would keep the lighting strong only around the source (high brightness, small radius), and much weaker around the rest of the room (low brightness, large radius).
I often use the LightEffect NonIncidence for this weaker, global lighting.
NonIncidence is good at hiding the exact location of the Light actor, because it doesn't paint an obvious circle on surfaces like default lighting does. This allows you to place Light actors where it feels the best, and pretty far away from the actual source if you need to.
As a result the lighting looks softer and closer to reality. Like lighting bouncing around and reaching places not directly in view from the light source.
It's possible to use multiple secondary lights with NonIncidence if you need to reach some corners, like the back side of a crate or other obstacles.
A faint amount of zone lighting can also add the finishing touches if needed. =)
In addition to this recommendation, in large areas you can also combine multiple styles of light sources, often with different colors.
I'll give some examples based on your screens:
Screen #2:
After you reduced the lighting, the ceiling area should be dark, even completely black if you want.
The main way in the middle shouldn't be so bright anymore either.
The new light sources should be placed in locations unaffected by your current light sources, the further away the better.
In this case, the furthest would be high up, between the pilars (
Now choosing the color:
YES
- Same orange as the existing flames work. You will get some contrast between all the flames and the darker areas between. A valid choice, but IMO it's still a bit sleepy.
- Red (hue 0 sat 0) or purple (hue 190-200 sat 0) would do well IMO, making a rather strong contrast with the existing orange flames. NaliFX has nice fire textures with these colors.
Purple might look too close to the color of the cave behind, in which case red will work better (or if you prefer the purple, make the cave color more blue!).
- Turquoise (hue 120-130 sat 0) also combines well with the existing flames and cave colors. Otherwise, it's also a brighter color than red, purple and orange. Therefore the new lights will tend to drive the attention (up in the air if placed high up) more than if they were red or purple. All depends on the effect you had in mind so. NaliFX also has a fire texture of this color.
- Green (hue 100-120 sat 0-64) gives the strongest contrast with the existing flame and cave colors, maybe even too strong, but it's worth testing! I don't think green fire would look good, but rather than fire, you can use the eyes on the texture of a statue (also works for red, purple and turquoise not so much IMO). :)
NO
- Yellow is too close to the color of the existing flames. Alternating similar colors looks weird.
- Blue is too close to the color of the cave. Same issue.
- White wouldn't look ancient, and is more suited to players location (ground level here) than decorative locations.
Now that you have 2 colors in the area, it's best if they're kept clearly separate and don't affect (mix with) each other.
That means If you want the second set of lights sources to be on the floor too, then no light will reach the ceiling (which may be good or bad depending on the effect you want), because all radiuses will be too small.
If you don't want black space between the lighted areas, you can:
- allow some overlap between the weak NonIncidence light actors of each source (but not from the brighter lights around those sources),
- use a little zone lighting (brightness 1-8) of the dominant color or colorless (dominant color here would be the cave color because the crystals are the strongest light source in the area).
Screen #4:
It's the same thing, but since you have no cave color visible here, you can choose blue as your 2nd color.
Screen #1:
It's impossible to use 2 colors here unless moving the light sources.
A possibility: lower the lamps at mid height (floor lighting remains the same except on corners, wall lighting becomes bright at bottom and black at top, ceiling becomes black).
Then place a 2nd set of lights to take care of the whole upper area without affecting the lower area, which means lots of tiny lamps around the ceiling with a small radius, or bigger lamps at mid height but looking up (possibly on the back of the current ones :P).
The color of this 2nd set would be any of the industrial colors I listed in my 25th May post.
One last suggestion on a different topic:
On 2nd and 4th screens the players path is all flat. You have many ways to add some height variation to make everything cooler. The way could go up or down, or one then the other, with slopes, stairs, or both, and maybe even some jumping. :)
Terraniux
UT Name: Terraniux UT Since: 1999 Joined: Jul 25, 2010 Posts: 1162
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 3:17 am Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
Wow. you put quite some effort in that post, much appreciated :)
Well, I am making the map in two separate pieces and combine them as one big map. And don't want to reveal too much, that would give a bored feeling and the element of surprise would be gone.
Making a test-version these days is no good since the servers are still under maintenance. I'll keep building and wait for the right moment.
Don't know why I actually posted these screenshots since I have actually a newer and better build with much more detail. But at least it gives people something to look at, haha,.
They don't differ much, but in certain detail detail they do.
About the architecture and lighting: Thank you for explaining your story and the how-to's . First of all: The shitty thing is that the screenshots are always brighter than the actual in-game look, The lighting properties- most of it I do know but some I never use. Because they are either too bright or too dark. Like you said there should be a balance between dark and bright .
Players including myself hates to see something I can't see. Always wondering: What could be there? Dark spots are like demons thats are not welcome, with a few exceptions ofcourse.
Lighting must come off a source that gives light, this the very rule of any lighting, real and unreal. All others surfaces are either dark or entirely black. But as seen in a MonsterHunt and big team perspective it is better to have a better over-lit map which is good playable rather than a dark hard playing map, with too much dynamic lighting and causes a maze( darkmatch). . But still, again the balance must be. I'll work on it just as I did the lighting in CM3.
Thanks again!
Regards Terraniux
Sponsor
Terraniux
UT Name: Terraniux UT Since: 1999 Joined: Jul 25, 2010 Posts: 1162
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 10:43 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
New screenshots. Much Improvement.
Putted some of your lighting advice into account, worked great. Mixed also a couple of my lighting techniques in creativity just as in CM3.
But to be honest I need to try a little more nice fire light, with absolutely no slight black edges.
Any pointers? Before I go investigate every single UTX file. This current one is from GreatFire2.utx
Some roofs will be a little decorated more, grounds will have the classic, closed in feeling with loose wallstones and broken floor steps.
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:27 am Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming! [new scree
Thanks! Nuffly at UnrealSP told me to make it translucent, then it's gone. But I already use this flame too much in the entire map, want a better or different flames. I use Direct3D. and SoftwareRenderer in the Editor.
Sponsor
Cyberia-Mix
dU.Mapper
UT Name: Demona UT Since: 2000 Joined: Dec 12, 2010 Posts: 588 Location: irc://irc.epiknet.org/2LO Reputation: 337.5 votes: 10 Status: Offline
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:38 pm Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming! [new scree
Yes flames need to be translucent.
For the textures, I mostly use NaliFX, or I look in maps that have flames I like. HubEffects has some flame textures too.
You can also create your own: in Textures browser select New... > Class FireTexture, then open the Properties, play with the FirePaint parameters and draw with the mouse in the black square to position the effects.
To change the color, keep the Texture Properties window open, open Palettes.utx, select the texture you want, then in the open window of your flame, go to + Texture > Palette and click Use.
If you created the texture in MyLevel, remember to use it in the map if you don't want it deleted when you exit UEd.
Terraniux
UT Name: Terraniux UT Since: 1999 Joined: Jul 25, 2010 Posts: 1162
For the textures, I mostly use NaliFX, or I look in maps that have flames I like. HubEffects has some flame textures too.
You can also create your own: in Textures browser select New... > Class FireTexture, then open the Properties, play with the FirePaint parameters and draw with the mouse in the black square to position the effects.
To change the color, keep the Texture Properties window open, open Palettes.utx, select the texture you want, then in the open window of your flame, go to + Texture > Palette and click Use.
If you created the texture in MyLevel, remember to use it in the map if you don't want it deleted when you exit UEd.
Allright. Thanks, I'll look into it!
HellFire
UT Name: }ElitE{HellFire` UT Since: 1999 Gender: Joined: Jul 20, 2010 Age: 31 Posts: 548 Location: The Netherlands Reputation: 315.9 votes: 6 Status: Offline
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:02 am Post subject: Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming! [new scree
<<<(Random pop in here)
The last 6 screens look really cool, looking forward for some new maps on there so I might enjoy the game again.
Hope I can get back into mapping a bit because looking at this makes it look all fun again.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
![[News Feed]](images/powered/feed_20_news.png "News Feed"){kind=small}
![[Forums Feed]](images/powered/feed_20_forums.png "Forums Feed"){kind=small}
![[Downloads Feed]](images/powered/feed_20_down.png "Downloads Feed"){kind=small}
![[Web Links Feed]](images/powered/feed_20_links.png "Web Links Feed"){kind=small}
![[Validate robots.txt]](images/powered/valid-robots.png "Validate robots.txt"){kind=small}
Welcome to destination Unreal, To access all areas of this site please register an account by clicking here now. 
The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming! [ Finished!]
Re: The series continues: MH-CrystalMine4 coming!
